19 May 2011

We already know the crimes committed by Gaddafi’s troops. But nobody wants to talk about the crimes perpetrated by the rebels. Maybe because the rebels’ racism is a taboo too big to face. Or perhaps because the correspondents in Benghazi were not able to notice anything in person, since they were on the wrong side of the front to do it. On the side where the wicked were only the ones enrolled in the ranks of Gaddafi’s militias. I was there, and every day we were receiving news of the massacres of civilians committed by the regular army. Even today I can’t get rid of the images that my eyes saw in those three weeks. The air raids on the districts of Ijdabiya, the tanks at the gates of Benghazi, the missiles on the houses in Misratah and the snipers posted on the roofs to shoot on the young people on the street, spreading terror. But we missed something. Since was is war. And the baddies are not just on one side. As always, violence ends up generating other violence. And Libya is not an exception. On the contrary. From Benghazi to Tripoli, the war has awoken an ancestral hatred which was never dormant. Racial hatred. Of the whites against the blacks.

The crowd accused the African mercenaries of the horrendous crimes perpetrated by the troops of Gaddafi. And the rest was done by the delirious masses thirsty for revenge. People armed to the teeth, who on more than one occasion executed the captured soldiers in cold blood, with particular fierceness against the blacks, dead or alive. Not to mention the innocent civilians who were literally lynched by the crowds as they were suspected of being mercenaries. All this because they were black. Last week we interviewed a black Libyan in Lampedusa who made the same complaint. But now we have the evidence. It’s on youtube. Thanks to 18 videos that document the atrocities committed by the same young men who are inspired by great ideals to free the country from the grip of the dictatorship.

They are amateur movies, shot from mobile phones and then uploaded on the net. They show Gaddafi’s soldiers butchered and burned. Their bodies are tied from their legs, hung as if they were animals and mutilated even when dead. Otherwise they’re piled one on top of the other in the tipper of a pick-up truck and shown around in a sort of military parade with the war trophies. Perhaps after being executed in cold blood with a gun shot in the nape. Or otherwise lynched by the crowd while someone serenely takes a video with the mobile phone or sings “god is great”.

How many of the people killed were actually soldiers? And how many were solely just blacks who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time? Like the 12 Malians who were arrested in Zintan wearing plain jeans and hoodies without a trace of a weapon. But talking of the same soldiers of the regime, was there a real need to execute them? How many of these are Gaddafi’s fervent supporters, and how many are poor guys forced to shoot in order to save their life before being themselves executed by their superiors, if they refuse to respect the orders?

Recently the transitory council of Benghazi took an important decision sending back to Tripoli, on a Red Cross flight, five soldiers of the regime who were made prisoners during the battle. But apart these five who were liberated since the beginning of the war, how many others were executed? And how many of these were innocent civilians?

These are questions that the 17th February movement will need to address as soon as possible. Possibly before the final battle for the liberation of Tripoli, which has started these days. Because if it continues like this, the Libyan capital runs the risk of becoming the umpteenth bloodbath of innocents.

Now we perfectly understand why black people are abandoning Libya in such a hurry. It’s not just Gaddafi’s retaliation against Italy for bombing Tripoli. It’s also and primarily the fear of the arrival of the rebel’s army. If they don’t reflect upon the taboo of racism, they risk of loosing all their great ideals on the way, before liberating the country.

WARNING

THE VIDEOS CONTAIN IMAGES THAT CAN OFFEND THE AUDIENCE’S SENSITIVITY. THEY ARE OF GREAT DOCUMENTARY VALUE, BUT THEY ARE VERY DISTURBING TO WATCH.

THEREFORE BEFORE VIEWING THEM, READ THE CAPTION TO KNOW WHAT TYPE OF IMAGES YOU MIGHT BE ABOUT TO SEE.